Natural Cleaning Products

I own a small cleaning business that uses only natural cleaning products I make myself.  My main ingredients are vinegar, water, baking soda, soap, and essential oils.  That's it.  I do make furniture polish as well, and those ingredients are a little more dear (beeswax specifically) but only one of my clients actually has fine wood furniture that requires waxing/polishing and my stuff is mostly IKEA crap, so I don't have to mix that up very often.

I started using natural cleaners shortly after I was pregnant with my son.  I'd become more interested in natural living and honestly, I was sick of cleaners that irritated my sinuses and eyes, not to mention my skin.  Over years of fiddling and messing around with ideas I found online, I finally found a system that works for me.  When I stopped using harsh cleaners like Pine Sol and bleach, I realized that I just felt better.  I didn't have sinus issues following a deep clean of my house and I began to appreciate things smelling clean by a lack of scent, not an overpowering smell of an agent.

For most everything I clean, I use my all-purpose spray.  My spray consists of vinegar, water, a dash of dish soap (Dawn, sorry, I use nothing else), and tea tree essential oil.  It cleans everything except granite and marble.  For granite and marble, straight rubbing alcohol is my go-to.  I simply spray, let it sit for a minute, then wipe and go.

If there's tough grit or cooked on food on the stove top or inside the oven I make a paste of baking soda and soap, rub it in, and let it sit while I clean the rest of the kitchen.  Then I go back and scrub with a scrubby sponge and wipe away with clean water.  I finish it off by spraying down the surface with my vinegar based mixture, this usually helps finish off the film/residue.

For bathrooms I use straight vinegar with tea tree oil and a dash of soap in the toilet. I only scrub toilets on my hands and knees with a dedicated toilet sponge.  I also wipe the walls, cabinets, and floors around the toilet to make sure it's really clean.  The tubs get a baking soda/soap paste to scrub and scour away any residues or build ups, I love love love my clients that have clear glass shower doors because it is so satisfying to leave a cloudy glass door looking brand new and shiny again.  Of course I'll never own a glass shower for that specific reason, it's a LOT of work keeping glass looking that good, but I do admit that when kept up with properly, glass doors are attractive.

The ace up my sleeve for my home and business is elbow grease.  I get very aggressive and scrub hard when cleaning.  I always laugh to myself because I lost over 50 lbs when I started up my business.  Cleaning an entire 2000+ sq ft house in 4 hours is better than one hour at the gym.  Even at my most gym-rat stage of gym rattiness, I never got such a good workout for such a consistent period of time.  The only thing I can think of that's a better workout is a 10 mile hike in rough terrain (and I am eagerly awaiting warmer weather so I can start up hiking again).

For floors I sweep and then vacuum with my dyson on the hard floor feature.  I use the wand to get corners and baseboards (though sometimes those need wiped down), and I try to hit the ceilings about once a month with my brush attachment to make sure cobwebs are kept down.  Carpets get sprinkled with a baking soda/essential oil mixture to reduce carpet odors and leave them smelling fresh.  I put this down before I start cleaning anything, it's my first cleaning step, and vacuum before I walk out the door.

Hard floors are steamed with my haan floor mop that has reusable and washable pads.  In my home I just use it without any oils added to the pads, but my clients enjoy pretty smells so I'll put several drops of essential oils onto the pad prior to starting it up and as it steams it produces clouds of lovely smelling vapor.

And that's it:  water, vinegar, baking soda, soap, and essential oils.  Those are my keys to a clean, healthy home.

More Reusables

I'll attempt to keep this from becoming a big TMI fest, but it is about menstrual products so beware.

I was a tampon girl since I first got the hang of it.  I always hated pads, hated hated hated them.  That bulky feeling and just knowing that everyone could see the outline through your pants was horrible and humiliating.  It was also probably one of the big contributors to diving head first into the punk/goth scene and embracing JNCOs and other super baggy jeans.

After I had my first child I realized that pads were an evil with whom I had to come to terms.  So I wore them, and I wound up with skin irritations because of the chemicals they contained.  I wound up using some of my son's newborn cloth prefold diapers, specifically for that purpose, they were not mixed up with his, and it was a super bulky relief.

Once I regained my fertility I started searching for alternative options to tampons because while I had some cloth pads, I was not fond of the bulk or the laundry.  It just wasn't a pleasant thing to empty out menstrual pads into my washer, even coming from the dirty hippie chick...it was just gross to me.  I saw menstrual sponges but nixed them because I didn't feel they'd be clean enough and then I found a Diva Cup.

Back in those days, you know the ones, when online shopping wasn't a huge thing and the "green" living hadn't quite caught on...life was tough back then...I had to order my Diva Cup through a private seller, similar to Avon or the like.  Today you can find them in any health food store, but back then I ordered mine from a woman online and it arrived in a lumpy, yet discreet, yellow manila envelope.

I squealed, got excited, and didn't menstruate for another nine months since I was pregnant.

Most women will tell you that the secret to getting pregnant is to order a menstrual cup.

So cue the cloth pads again and months of lactational amenorrhea and finally I got my period again. I wasn't fond of my Diva, it was just too rigid and uncomfortable.  The suction sometimes felt like it was trying to suck out my uterus.  So I hit the internet again and came across what I consider a training cup, Insteads.  They were much more flexible and user friendly, but they leaked.  This is where my handy dandy cloth panti liners came in.  I'd ordered a ton of them years prior and used them, but they were put into full rotation.  So I still had my cup and I was now putting those flannel panti liners to use.

A few years later I got an IUD placed and had to let the Insteads go since they can potentially dislodge an IUD.

Finally, I got my tubes tied and decided to purchase a Lunette cup since I no longer had any fears of hearing that metal *tink* into the toilet bowl.  It was a total impulse buy, I just happened to see it in a natural parenting store while buying laundry detergent, but when I held it I was impressed with how flexible and contouring it was.

I fell in love with my Lunette.  I rarely have issues with leaking or that sucking out my innards sensation and the stem is short, but not too short, so it isn't pokey, and I don't have to...well...fish to pull it out.

Some time ago I realized that all my flannel panti liners had gone by the wayside, I only had one old faithful left.  Then, a month ago, a pagan friend of mine invited me to her twin daughter's womanhood ritual.  They're officially women so they're going to celebrate with a ritual and bestowing gifts that women will need in their lives.  I contacted her with the idea of sewing them some panti liners and she gave me the green light so off I went to the fabric store with coupons in hand and sat down to sew.

A quick picture tutorial on making cloth pads:

I started out by laying my last remaining liner on the fabric, folded in half, and then simply cut around it.  I modified it to be a little bigger, but stayed true to the shape.

 I cut them out (remember, two layers of fabric so they match perfectly) with my amazing rotary cutter.

Lined them up, ready to sew.

I turned the fabric to face itself (wrong side out), being sure to keep the corresponding sides together and then sewed all but the top edge with a basic straight stitch.

I then flipped them right side out (you can see the one that's been flipped and the rest are still waiting to be turned).

Time to sew the top closed.  Simply fold it in to form a 1/4" seam and then topstitch it closed.  Continue the topstitching all the way around the liner to give it more structure and a more finished look.

Place snaps either using a press or a hammer, I used hammer snaps.  Hammer snaps are my preferred for this since my press tends to punch through, but do be careful lining them up properly, I ruined two with misfires and fixed a couple by separating and rebending the prongs to try again.

They're cute!  They're soft!  And they're totally reusable.  The one I used for a guide is probably 12 years old, if I recall correctly, and still kicking strong.  I'm looking forward to my new, cute cloth panti liners, and I hope the gift for the twins will be appreciated.

I'd say the cost for the materials was around $20 at my local big box fabric store (with coupons), and I made 24 (including the two screw ups).  The snaps were the most expensive items and if I make more I'll be ordering online next time.

Reuse It

I'm really big into reusable products.  I usually have a single roll of paper towels hidden under the sink, but I have a big drawer full of washcloths, hand towels, and cloth napkins that are in constant use.  I am not a huge fan of disposable paper products, I feel that they are wasteful, not only of resources, but of money.  While cloth items are a bit of an up front investment, they have saved me so much money over the years.  

I tend to keep an eye out for clearances, specifically at the end of holidays, for things like cloth napkins.  It seems those are the hardest for me to replace since I prefer cotton and cotton napkins are pretty expensive.  In fact, I've been scouring lately but haven't seen much.  I've lost a good stack of napkins in the past six months to company and kids, it seems people feel that a dirty napkin should be thrown away instead of washed because it's gross.

One of my favorite reusable items is my reusable lunch baggies.  They're just a laminated fabric that's moisture resistant, they have cute prints, and they've lasted me about four years now.  The ones I have are a bit faded, but still kicking strong, but of course I've lost many over the years since the kids throw stuff away on accident or they just get left behind at the lunch table.

Since my budget is strict, and I don't have much money for extras like lunchskins and other big brand reusable products, I've taken to researching into making my own.  I have purchased the needed fabrics, of course finding the time seems to be the hardest task of all.  I do enjoy sewing, but it seems that those around me are not as fond of the idea of me getting lost in the machine for hours on end.  Snacks, homework help, attention, cuddles, and fight mediation are highly sought out in my home and peace is a thing I know very little about.

About two months ago, I lost my trusty Kleen Kanteen that has seen me through two pregnancies and five moves.  I know I've gotten my money's worth out of my investment, but the thought of spending That Much money on a reusable bottle makes me feel a little sick.  So I've gone out and bought one cheaper version after another only to find that the quality and durability is minimal compared to my KK bottle.  Considering the fact that I drink water and coffee, with the rare treat of a fountain coke here and there, and I'm desperately trying to avoid energy drinks, I need another water bottle.  So I sit here, perusing their online store, and quailing at the thought of spending $20 (not including shipping), but I'm going to do it because my KK really was my favorite thing ever and I have noticed a marked decrease in my water intake and an enormously marked increase in my energy drink consumption.

Of course I use reusable grocery bags.  I went a bit hog wild and purchased a ton of envirosax and chicco bags.  While they're great bags, I've found that the bigger ones, similar in size and design to a traditional paper bag, sold at my grocery store for $.99/ea are my favorites.  They're sturdy, washable (a few times), and last quite a long time.  When it comes time to throw them away, well, it was only $.99 and I got at least a year of regular use for groceries and traveling (they make a great night away bags for the kids and myself) out of each one before it's time to let it go.  It doesn't hurt as badly.

I use other reusable products in my life and home, but I'll save them for another post.  Suffice to say, reusable products are great, and I love the fact that I rarely run out, and if I do I don't have to run to the store to pick up another roll of paper towels.  I do still use toilet paper, though I did briefly dabble in "family cloth."  It was a brief foray, I assure.